Rain
doesn’t dampen OECS Track
Terry Finisterre www.oecsathlete.com
25 June 2001 - The 2001
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States/Whitsun Track and Field Championships in St.
George’s Grenada attracted nearly two hundred top athletes from the nine-member
sub-regional grouping, Venezuela, Guyana and Barbados.
The athletes performed well under bad conditions. Carifta champion and OECS record-holder Lavern Spencer of St. Lucia missed a gold medal in the open women’s high jump, losing to Barbados’ Lauren Maul. Spencer, Maul and bronze medallist Patricia Sylvester of Grenada all cleared 1.75m and failed at 1.80m, which would have been a new OECS record.
Barbados’ Damon Thompson claimed gold in the open men’s high jump, but he missed out on a meet record as well. Thompson had three successful jumps - 2.00, 2.05 and 2.10m – after skipping the earlier heights. Bran Morris of St. Kitts (1.90) and 16-year-old Kenson Casimir of St. Lucia (1.90) were second and third.
Valma Bass from St. Kitts won the women’s short sprints, in a field weakened by the absence of Natasha Mayers (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) and Heather Samuels (Antigua/Barbuda). On the men’s side, hometown favourite Sean Lambert took advantage of a field that did not include Kittitian Kim Collins; Lambert won the men’s 100m, but lost to Keita Cline of the British Virgin Islands for the 200m crown. Grenada’s Alleyne Francique took the men’s 400m title with ease.
Hometown hero, Carifta champion and OECS record-holder Shamir Thomas three 49.42m to win the men’s open discus, ahead of Paul Phillip (48.83) of Grenada and Troy Patterson (46.36) of Barbados. Grenada’s Kathy-Ann Hopkin broke the OECS junior shot putt record (she also holds the OECS junior discus mark) by throwing 13.24m for gold, ahead of Barbados’ Shernelle Nicholas (13.02m) and Dominica’s Isabella Charles (11.32m).
The distance races provided a great deal of excitement, especially the men’s and women’s 1500m runs. With Janil Wiliams of Antigua/Barbuda competing at the Trinidad and Tobago national championships, Nessa Paul of St. Lucia broke free on the home straight to clock 4:53.20 and beat Grenada’s Stephanie Ferguson (4:54.52) in to second place for the women’s race. Pamenos Ballantyne of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (3:54.97) held off a surprisingly strong challenge from Jason Sayers in the men’s event, with Antigua/Barbuda’s Dale Jones third.
Williams, the multiple Carifta champion, flew into St. George’s on Sunday. She duly took gold in the 800m and 3000m races, beating Paul – a Carifta bronze medallist – for the latter event. In the men’s 5000m run, Sayers set the pace early, and led most of the race in steady rain. Ballantyne challenged him with five laps remaining, and again on the penultimate lap, but Sayers eventually won comfortably, blowing kisses to the crowd as he came home well ahead of the field.
Jesse King of Barbados’ BC Track Club set a meet record of 10.92 seconds for the youth 100m boys, beating Jarvin Moise of St. Lucia’s Morne Stars Track Club (11.05) into second place. Moise was second again in the 200m, but he had a terrific 400m run, taking the lead into the home straight and opening the jets. Sixteen years old, he will certainly figure in St. Lucia’s future plans.
This story is the property of www.oecsathlete.com. Images from the OECS/Whitsun Games will be posted on www.oecsathlete.com. See also the official web site at http://www.spiceisle.com/gaaa/.
